Take Me Home
by Rockbyrock
Summary: Teddy and Amelia are forced to make a trip to Florida to treat a young patient but while reluctantly visiting a home she left almost twenty years ago Teddy has to face some pretty painful home truths.
1. Because of You

**AN- Hello, this is my first fic on here (I've done some on other platforms) my fave characters are Teddy and Amelia so expect to see lots of them over here :)- Hope you enjoy xx**

It's early morning and after flying through the night we touch down in Florida, it was last trip and one I never thought I'd make. I got the last minute call last night, Catherine needed me to join Amelia, who is already in there, to perform a heart transplant on a young patient whilst she performs an AVM repair. I tried to avoid having to go back to Florida, I haven't been back in nearly 20 years and before today I no intention in going back there.

I put Allison in the back of the taxi and go sit next to her, holding her little hands as we drive away from the airport. I recognise the roads we begin to drive down, the mall I used to shop at, the movie theatre I worked as a teenager. Thankfully we drive straight past the turning for my old neighbourhood, it makes my stomach physically turn thinking about going back down there. The quicker I get out of here and get back to Seattle, the better.

After arriving at the hospital I leave Allison at the day care in the hospital, put my scrubs on and head up to meet Amelia on the paediatric floor. As I approach the room I can hear laughing and talking, I knock on the door and begin to enter the room, Amelia is sat on the bed of a young girl, she looks no older than 17, she looks up and waves me in.

"Hey, just in time we were just about start pre op" she smiles.

"Want me to read my case again doctor Amelia" she asks, scanning the room.

"Take it away"

"Eden Kate Murphy, 17, almost 18. Three days ago presented with symptoms of a frontal lobe AVM which will be repaired alongside a heart transplant for congenital heart disease that has got progressively worse. Today doctor Amelia will fix my head and doctor-" she turns and smiles at me.

"Doctor Altman, Teddy"

"Nice to meet you" she reaches over and shakes my hand. "and doctor Teddy will fix my heart. How did I do?" she questions Amelia.

"The best you've done it. How about I go take your mom and run her through today's surgery and doctor Altman can get you ready" Amelia states leading Eden's mom out of the room.

"Good luck" she places her hand reassuringly on my shoulder "Behave yourself, Eden" To which Eden rolls her eyes at.

"So you know doctor Amelia, you work together?" she asks

"Yeah"

"I wanna be a doctor, too" she bows her head seeming slightly embarrassed

We spend the next thirty minutes chatting about how she wants to move to New York for med school. She strangely reminds me of myself spirited and determined to get and do what she wants.

"Okay Eden, your new heart is on its way, it shouldn't be too long. How about doctor Altman and I leave you and your mom to have a minute" Amelia enters back into the room with Eden's mom.

"Sure but I wanna hear all about Columbia when you come back." Eden chimes as we leave the room.

Amelia and I leave Eden's room and start to walk towards the cafeteria, I don't know what it is about this place but all of a sudden I feel so on edge and nervous. With an hour or so before Eden's new heart arrives, Amelia and I decide to take Allison for a walk as it might be a while before we get out of the hospital. I place her tiny body in the stroller and we begin to walk down the street, this hospital wasn't built when I was last here but it's only a ten minute walk from where I grew up. Around the corner was a little shop, I really need chocolate so I pushed Allison in, bought my chocolate and left.

"Theodora! Theodora, is that you?"

I don't think my heart has dropped so suddenly or my head has turned so quickly. Before I know it I'm stood opposite my grandmother for the first time in twenty years. For the first few moments she doesn't say anything and neither do I, we just stand as we study each other, she looks no different her hair is still a light silver with subtle curls and her skin has few wrinkles, which is good considering she's 88. I want to say something to her but I don't know what. She crosses the road and begins to approach me, part of me wants to walk away, go back to the hospital then back to Seattle and never come back but there's something inside me that makes me stay. Its Allison she made me stay. Amelia just stands looking very confused her eyes scanning from me to my grandmother and back again.

"Well I never thought I'd see the light of day. My baby's back home" She smiled wrapping me up in her arms.

I want to apologise for all the unnecessary pain I must have caused her by not calling or coming home or staying around, I made a promise to my mom before she died and I know I broke it. But I don't know how.

"You look so good." She stands back and looks at me as I force a smile. "Oh how rude of me, I'm Marina Altman, Theodora's grandmother" she introduces.

"Amelia Shepherd, I'm Theodora's, Teddy's friend" she takes my grandma's hand and shakes it.

I don't want things to be awkward and deep down I want Allison to know where she comes from, to know her family.

"It's lovely to meet you, Amelia. And who's this little beauty?" She bends over the stroller and strokes Allison's face.

"This is Allison, my daughter" I answer quietly awaiting some kind of judgement, but I know secretly that she won't judge me. She's never done even when I was stupid as a teenager and when I abandoned them when mom and Allison died, she never once judged me.

"Allison, what a beautiful name for such a beautiful girl" she looks up at me and smiles.

"Eden Murphy's heart has just landed" Amelia states as her pager bleeps.

"Oh well I know you're very busy but maybe we could have dinner before you leave. What about tonight at 8 or will you still be working?" She asks hopefully.

"Tonight at 8 is perfect" I reply.

"See you all at 8 then" she reminds as we walk away.

My heart is still beating like it's about to burst out of my chest and do a dance on the sidewalk. I keep telling myself I'm not doing this for me I'm doing it for my baby, for Allison.

"So your grandma just said 'you all' does that mean I'm coming to dinner?" Amelia asks intrigued.

"I mean she invited you and I don't wanna go on my own" I smile.

"Cool, she strikes me as a good cook"

"Oh she is, she's the best"

A little smile creeps on to my face and as much as I keep saying I didn't want to come back and I didn't want to see anyone I used to know, I'm glad I saw my grandmother. I'm so glad.


	2. Thank Heaven for Little Girls

"Alright, Eden time to get this show on the road" I say entering her room, where her and her mom were patiently waiting for us.

"Ooo my hearts here, exciting" she replies as an orderly takes the brakes off of her bed and begins to wheel her towards the door.

"I know, very exciting. Let's go meet it shall we?"

"Eden's mom, Sienna follows us to the red line holding her hand the whole way but not saying a single word. I can't even begin to imagine what she's going through, leaving your most precious thing in the hands of strangers knowing full well that you may never see them alive again. We reach the line and it's obvious Sienna has done this a few times before I stop the bed as she kisses Eden on the head.  
"I love you, ok? I'll see you on the other side." She squeezes her hand and steps back./span/p  
"I love you too. Don't worry I'll be fine, doctor Amelia and doctor Teddy are talented ladies they know what they're doing" she blows her mom a kiss and we wheel her into the OR.  
"I keep thinking about my daughter and how I would kill and die for her without question whether she asked me to or not. After she was born I felt this new love, a love I've never felt before a love I didn't know existed and it's so different to anything I've ever felt before. I just keep going over it in my head, let this girl go back to her mom safe and sound.  
"Doctor Amelia, Doctor Teddy?" Eden asks, her voice shaking as she shuffles on to the table./span/p  
"Yeah" we answer in sync.  
"If something happens to me will you make sure my mom is ok. I have two brothers and a sister but they all have their own lives, please don't let her fall through the cracks." Her voice still shaking.  
"We won't let her fall through the cracks, we'll look after her, but we won't have to because you're going to be fine" I squeeze Eden's hand as the mask is placed over her face and she drifts off to sleep. begin to cut down her chest, as Amelia assists and monitors her brain. Four and a half hours later Eden's chest is stitched up and Amelia has began work on the AVM repair and I'm heading to the waiting room to update Sienna, I can imagine that four and a half hours feels like four and a half years for her.  
"Have you finished? Is she ok?" Sienna asks before I even have chance to get near her.

"I've completed the heart transplant and it's looking good. She did really well and doctor Shepherd is beginning the AVM repair and it shouldn't be long" I tell her, sat on the chair next to her.  
"She told me you used to work at Colombia in New York. That's where she wants to go to med school" she begins  
"I did, she's such an ambitious and determined girl." I reply  
"We have had countless arguments about it. All because she wants to go to New York, it where I was born and where I met her dad and where sister, Zoe and her brothers Max and Dylan were born and where they went to study. But I don't want Eden to go" she looks up at me, her eyes pricked with tears. "We were so happy there until John my husband died, he was a firefighter and died whilst on duty on September 11th before I even knew I was pregnant with Eden, three days later I moved down to Florida just me and the kids and vowed to never go back there" she wipes her tears away with her hand.

"My best friend, Allison died in the fall of the second tower. Two days later I joined the army and went to Iraq, I didn't speak to my family for nearly a year and this is the first time I've been back home since. I have a kid sister I haven't seen since she was seven years old, she's now twenty seven and I missed so much of her life and I promised my mom I'd take care of her. It's not easy to let go of the past but then when was anything in life worth having if you didn't have to fight for it"

"She didn't say anything, she just held my hand. Until two and half hours later when Amelia finishes the AVM repair, she leads Sienna to Eden whilst I go pick Allison up from the day care. When I get there she's waiting for me, I just scoop her up in my arms and hold her, it's cases like this and conversations like the one I just had with Sienna that make you hug your babies a little tighter and for a little longer.  
"Ok, do we get a cab?" Amelia asks as we leave our hotel.  
"It's ten minutes down the road" I laugh as she pushes Allison, who is asleep in her stroller.  
"I can't believe you never told me you lived in Florida or New York"  
"They're not really things I make a habit of thinking about" I answer leading Amelia down the street I used live on. "This was my house" I point to the house third from the end it has the same kind of fence we had but the front garden has a swing set in it and there looks to be a loft extension.  
"Looks like a nice house" she smiles stopping next to me as I stand and have a look.  
"It was, it was perfect" I begin to walk away before I think about it too much, think about what all those walls saw, the fights, the celebrations, the make ups and the break ups.  
My grandmother only lives a few minutes down the road in a house almost identical to the one we just stopped at, I used to love going down to my grandma's house for sleepovers when I was younger it used to make me feel like I was going on vacation. Before we reach the door my grandma had already opened it and she was standing in the doorway with a huge smile on her face, I carried the stroller up the stairs and Amelia held Allison as only thirty seconds before, she had woken from her nap and screamed blue murder because she wanted to be held. I wish adults could get away with that.  
The inside of the house is just as I remember it, old wooden furnishings and loads of photos on the walls. I stand and look at them for a moment whilst Amelia and Allison are led into the kitchen.  
"Do you remember that, your first time out of the country?" She points to a photo of me aged 12 in a navy bathing suit paddling in the sea. "We visited my sister, your great aunt in her beach house in Mykonos" she places her hand on my shoulder. "I couldn't get you out of the sea. Your hair was all dry from the salt water, like in the photo"

"I remember, you used to wash my hair three times and then you would put it in French braids to let the heat dry it and then in the morning it would be all wavy" I smile.  
I walk away from the hallway and enter the kitchen/ dining room, where there's even more pictures: my graduation, my mom and dads wedding.  
"Is this you as a child?" Amelia laughs, looking at a photo of me.

"I think I'm around nine years old. I used to love that sweater" I smile, I pick up the photo and study the younger version of myself. I wish I could have told her that it was all going to be okay, as hard as it gets it will be okay.

"Okay, ladies dinner is served" Grandma, places a dish in front of us.

I take a seat, opposite, my grandmother and next to Amelia, with baby Allison on my knee because she screams every time I sit her in the stroller. Great, a lot of love for teething.

We sit at the table and make small talk, my grandma never fails to make me laugh by telling funny stories from when I was young. We had just finished eating when the door swings open and slams shut.

"I'm sorry Grandma. I left my other bag upstairs" I hear being shouted by a slightly familiar voice as the same voice marches up the stairs.

My heart sinks and I gasp. Billie. My baby sister Billie.

The whole kitchen goes silent, even Allison stays quiet. But before I know it the footsteps reach the bottom of the stairs and the kitchen door swings open, my eyes dart up to towards her, I think half of me expected a little seven year old girl to storm through, with her little blonde ringlets and those brown leather cowboy boots that she wouldn't take off all summer. No, she's only small 5'1 or 5'2 maybe and her hair doesn't reach her butt anymore it's right above her shoulders but the curls are still there and she still has that look in her eyes, the look that nothing phases her she could have fallen from the biggest tree and she would have just laid on the floor and laughed.

"W-what the-" she can't finish her sentence her eyes just dart from me to grandma to Amelia and then Allison and back again.

"Billie, let me explain" grandma says in her usual calming tone.

"I'm going to be late for work and when I come back, I don't need an explanation I just need her to not be here" she walks out leaving the whole room stunned.

"Theodora I'm-" she begins.

"Don't apologise, It's my fault and she clearly hasn't forgiven me" I stop myself from doing what I really want to do, sob, I just want to sob.

"I don't want to make excuses for how she just behaved" my grandmother begins looking at both Amelia and I, taking a hand each, that's her way of keeping people present in a conversation she likes to hold hands, even with people she's known for an hour. "But she's been having a hard time lately, one day she came home really upset and the next thing she suddenly quit her job as a third year surgical resident to be a singer in some crappy bar over down the street. I've tried talking to her but she just doesn't listen. She's stubborn, like you" she laughs even though her eyes are pricked with tears.

We sit and look through old photos, drink hot tea and laugh until we cry but despite all that there's still this elephant in the room, that Billie left there.

Amelia and I leave as it gets dark and we walk a sleeping Allison back to the hotel.

"Hey, could you just watch her for an hour please, I have to go do something" I ask as we reach the hotel door.

"Yeah no problem" she squeezes my arm and walks into the hotel as I carry on up the street.

I continue to walk further and further up the road, I know exactly which bar she's in, the same one me and my friends used to go to as teenagers, it was the only one we could get served at. Oh the good old days. I take a seat on a worn leather bar stool and order a drink. I'm determined to talk to her, even if it takes me all night and knowing Billie it probably will.

**AN- I'm so surprised at how much love this fic got. It filled my heart with so much joy. So I hope you enjoy xxx**


	3. Life Goes On

I feel like I'm waiting for a lifetime, I try to keep myself distracted by finding things to do, tapping my glass, twiddling my thumbs, twirling my hair around my fingers, scrolling about a million photos of Allison.

Then she takes the stage, her beautiful, short, light blonde hair has been replaced by a long caramel coloured wig, her face has heavy make up painted on it, dark eyeshadow and a red lip and she's wearing tight, black leather trousers and a tight black crop top. She really doesn't look the same.

She sings a set of around ten songs, the whole time she doesn't see me or if she does it doesn't change her performance. She has a stunning voice just like our mom. After her final song I wait at the bar for her but I really don't expect her to talk to me I guess I just want her to know I'm here for her.

When Billie eventually comes out the bar has almost emptied, she has taken her wig and all of her make up off and has replaced her tight black clothes for leggings and a hoody.

"Are you stalking me, do I need to inform the police?" she sarcastically asks walking past not stopping.

"Billie, wait please" I plead standing up to follow her.

"Why? So you can apologise for just leaving me or so you can tell me you didn't want to miss my whole life or is it just to make you feel better. Because you don't need to, I don't need you to apologise, I made peace with the fact you left so I don't need you to come back, tell me how much you love me only for you to leave again." She stops and stands opposite me.

"I just wanted to talk, I just wanted to make it right"

"Why? You already made it wrong, it's been twenty years why change it now?"

"Because you're my sister."

"No. You gave up the right to call me that twenty years ago when you flew off instead of taking care of the one person who really needed you. I'm done"

And there she goes storming down the street, with a hint of attitude in her step as she makes her way to the turn off and drifts out of my sight. As I head back the hotel, I'm heartbroken, the Billie I knew would never treat anyone in that way but then again the Billie I knew was seven years old.

I have a rubbish nights sleep a combination of stress, a strange bed and the teething monster means I'm awake for most of the night. It's 5:30am and Allison has finally drifted off but my heart is still heavy and there's still a lump in my throat from my conversation with Billie last night. I make a cup of coffee and watch the sunset from the huge hotel window while I pray Allison sleeps for an hour but all I can do is look at the photo of Leo and Allison I have as my phone lock screen. He has his little arm wrapped around her shoulder and I can tell by the way he looks at her and the way she looks at him they dote on each other. I just wish Billie knew that's how I feel about her.

Allison's little nap was very short lived, Amelia and I are due at the hospital soon so I decide to get her dressed and ready for the day. I hear a little knock on the adjoining door between mine and Amelia's room.

"Hey, how'd it go last night?" she whispers

"Not good" I say back, leaning against the door

"Are you ok?" She asks

"Yeah" I reply

She opens the door and I nearly fall through but she just wraps me up in her arms. She doesn't say anything but she doesn't need to.

At the hospital Eden is still in a coma and her mom is still sat holding her hand, she stands up though when we enter the room.

We explain to her that we were going to try and wake Eden up today so she leaves as we have to do a head CT and an echocardiogram before we wake her. As we wait for the CT I look down at Eden and her frail looking body. The tubes and wires sticking out of her and the bandages and dressings wrapped around her head and chest are a far cry from the bubbly, vivacious, determined young girl we met a day earlier in fact it doesn't really look like her at all.

"So do you plan on seeing Billie before we leave tomorrow evening?" Amelia asks snapping my train of thought.

"Well after last night she clearly wants nothing to do with me" I sigh

"This is the thing with sisters, they don't want to listen to a word you have to say but when they do they realise how much sense you make and I have enough experience with sisters to know if you keep trying you'll get there in the end." she smiles, we might not have been friends for a long time but Amelia and I have a strong friendship and I love it.

After the echocardiogram and the CT scan come back clear we meet Eden's mom Sienna back in her room ready to wake Eden back up. And after a short while Eden opens her huge hazel eyes and smiles. Its the best outcome you could ask for, we leave them in peace and go discuss dinner plans whilst writing up Eden's chart.

"I want to shopping as well I need a present for Owen and Leo" I say pushing Allison's stroller out of the elevator and towards the hospital doors.

"Yes I need something for Link and Leo too" she replies.

"I was thinking matching bears for him and Allison"

"That's adorable"

We continue to walk through the lobby. I can't wait to go back to Seattle to see Owen, Leo and get back in my own bed but I know I need to fix things with Billie or at least let her know that I tried to fix things even if she doesn't want to.

Since we're only here for two nights we also decide to go see my grandmother before we leave because apparantly she hasn't had enough baby cuddles and needs some more before we go. After we get ready and go for dinner we make a final late night night stop at my grandma's house, allowing her to have some baby snuggles with Allison.

"Billie's here she's agreed to be civil" she says embracing me as we head towards the door.

" I don't think I should stay" I say reluctantly

"Don't be ridiculous, of course you should stay. Now come in sit down, have some tea and let me cuddle my great grand baby" she scolds leading us toward the living area.

My heart is thumping, I'm not nervous or scared I just can't stop thinking about Allison, not baby Allison, my best friend Allison. I keep thinking that if she was here she would bang mine and Billie's heads together and tell us that life's too short to be arguing and that holding grudges only causes more wrinkles (yes she actually said that). But I have nothing to say to her.

As we pass the collection of photos in the hallway I stop again and look at one of my favourite pictures, one I had forgotten about. I think I'm around 12 and Billie is a year old she's sat on my knees and I'm kissing her head. I remember when that picture was taken, I remember exactly how I felt when my mom was stood behind the camera saying 'smile Teds' but I didn't I just sat there and kissed the baby sister I longed for.

"Billie, this is Amelia, Teddy's friend" I can hear my grandma introduce from the hallway.

I follow in not saying a word just simply sitting down on the brown, leather couch and putting Allison on my knee. As it gets late take Allison upstairs and put her to sleep in an old pack n play and listening to her on the baby monitor from downstairs.

"So why did you leave?" Billie asks bluntly before I've even had chance to sit down.

The whole room feels awkward and quiet and for once I feel speechless.

"Billie" our grandmother whispers under her breath through gritted teeth.

"What? She turned up to my place of work trying to make amends nows her chance" she looks at me in anticipation.

"Erm... well I left because- well I guess I felt suffocated and scared and sad. I was so sad I had spent every waking moment with Allison we went to school together, we worked together, we had our lives planned out together. I needed to get out and so I did" I swallow hard whilst silently congratulating myself, I don't think I could have done it better.

"So you left me here to suffocate instead. Nice one." she laughs

This is going to be a very long night.

**AN: Hello again. This is kind of a short chapter but I have something planned for the next chapter that's quite good and I hope to have it done tomorrow, I'd love to know what you think might happen. And just before I go I just wanted to say thank you for all the lovely reviews they've made a crappy week a whole less crappy and an even bigger thank you to the lovely account that has commented on all of my fics it's really kept me motivated. Xxx**


	4. I Can't Take My Eyes Off Of You

"I don't know what you want me to say" I say a little louder than I first intended

"Well you know what neither do I. I was fine before yesterday, why did you have to come back?" She yells back

"Because I didn't want my daughter to grow up not knowing who her family are" I flop back into my chair.

I genuinely don't know what to say to her anymore, she's like a teenager, she has an answer for everything and it's tiring but I'm determined not to let her go, I just can't bring myself to do it. Every time I close my eyes I weirdly hear my mom's voice saying 'don't let her go Teddy you don't have lots of family left you can't afford to lose her too' and that's what's keeping me going.

"You know what I need a break, enjoy the rest of your evening." she goes upstairs and leaves us all stunned.

"Does she regularly act like a thirteen year old girl?" I ask my grandmother.

"No, only since she left her job." She laughs presumably at the thought of a 27 year old woman acting like a thirteen year old. "I really thought you'd be able to get through to her" she sighs.

"Well me too"

And just like that Allison begins to cry but before I have chance to go settle her I hear the bedroom door open from down the baby monitor.

"Oh hello, baby Allison" she begins, Allison still crying down the baby monitor I'm pretty sure Billie doesn't know we can hear her. "now I'm your Auntie Billie but you can just call me Billie because the auntie bit makes me sound old." Allison continues to cry and I go to stand up when something inside me pulls me down. "do you want me to sing you a song? Yeah. Ok let me think. Now this song is a good one, your grandma, mine and your mommy's momma used to sing this to us, now you didn't get to meet her but she was a pretty fabulous lady you know?" The whole room begins to smile but I can't quite work out which song she's talking about.

"You're just too good to be true, can't take my eyes off of you, you'd be like heaven to touch I wanna hold you so much. At long last love has arrived and I thank god I'm alive. You're just too good to be true, can't take my eyes off of you." Frankie Valli, I remember I used to love that song.

"Teddy. Teddy" Amelia snaps my trail of thought. "Eden Murphy's vitals have dropped we need to go to the hospital" she says

"You go we'll look after Allison, Mary Poppins seems to be doing a good job upstairs she's stopped crying" grandma smiles as we grab our bags and begin to leave.

"That went well" Amelia says as we rush towards the hospital.

"Yeah well at least she likes the baby, small steps I guess" I laugh.

Upon arriving at the hospital it's quickly established that Eden needs to go back in as the repair has failed and Amelia needs to reassess, there's nothing I can do but sit and comfort Sienna.

"Did you go see your sister?" She asks as we sit and wait for Amelia.

"I did"

"What did she say?" She turns to me "Sorry that's none of my business it's just if I don't talk about anything I think about the worst and that's no good for anyone"

"No its fine, it didn't go very well but she's back home cuddling my daughter so I guess that's something" I smile

"Babies do that, they bring people together in some of the worse situations, I remember when Eden was born, I was so scared that I wouldn't be able to do it on my own but when she was placed in my arms the whole world just fell into place I knew then that it wouldn't go wrong because I had my babies." she holds my hand

"I just wish she would talk to me"

"She will just give her time" she squeezes my hand

It's nearly three hours before Amelia is finished, she informs us that it all went well and Eden just wanted to give us a scare and she should be awake in the morning.

We agreed to leave Allison at my grandma's as she was finally asleep and she didn't need to be disturbed just to be moved to another bed.

It was nice to have a full nights sleep but I spend most of the time thinking about Allison and Billie. We leave today and I can't leave with having a proper conversation with Billie, one that doesn't involve her shouting at me and me shouting at her, I have come to the conclusion that I'm not going to try and fix what I broke I'm simply just going to see if there's anything else I can do to help her.

Our flight back to Seattle is at 4pm so we go make one last stop at the hospital before picking Allison up and heading to the airport. When we enter the room Eden is wide awake and laughing at her mom, her face lights up as soon as we enter the room.

"Doctor Teddy, Doctor Amelia" She smiles as we enter the room.

"Go on Eden take it away" Amelia laughs

"Eden Kate Murphy, 17 almost 18. Two days post-op from an AVM repair and a heart transplant and one day post-op from a second AVM repair. Vitals are stable and everything looks good" She smiles at us both "I can't thank you enough for all your help, I just keep thinking today is the day my life begins"

"We have something for you" I reply handing her a white envelope and Amelia does the same "It's our letters of recommendation for when you go to Columbia" I smile.

" I can't believe this, thank you"

Before we go, I go hug Sienna and thank her for all her amazing advice on how to deal with Billie.

"Good luck with your sister, remember it takes time" she whispers in my ear.

"Thank you" I whisper back.

"No thank you for giving me my baby back" she smiles

"Stay in touch, though I'm sure I'll be working with a Doctor Eden Murphy in the coming years" I say squeezing Eden's hand and leaving the room.

I go pick Allison up alone as Amelia still needs to pack her bag, when I enter the house there's music playing and Billie has Allison in her arms. She's dancing around the living room with her laughing loudly, Allison has the best laugh. I knock on the door and as I wait for somebody to answer I just stand for a moment and listen to them laughing and singing.

"Hey come in" my grandma says. "Billie hasn't let go of her all day" she laughs

She leads me into the living room, where Billie has a whole basket of old wooden toys scattered across the floor.

"Hey my girl" I take Allison from Billie and kiss her head. "Oh my goodness, I used to love this" I smile picking up a little wooden train with different shaped holes that you put little shaped bricks in.

"Yeah me too" she answers, smiling awkwardly at the ground.

"I think little Allison may have left her bunny upstairs, I'll go get it" grandma leaves to go upstairs, leaving me and Billie alone.

"Can I have one last cuddle before you go?" she asks as I had a smiling Allison over. "Aw. Allison" she says in her best baby voice, resting her on her hip.

"Look are you ok?" I blurt not really thinking.

"Me, yeah I'm fine" she says sounding slightly shocked

"It's just, you've been a little off" I say trying not to sound patronising

"I gave up my job. People do that all the time"

"Not people that have studied for almost nine years"

"Yeah well stuff happens" she bows her head.

"You know you can tell me anything"

She doesn't say anything she just smiles and takes Allison's hand.

"You're going to think I'm being stupid." She whispers

"I remember when you were born." I walk into the hallway ushering her to follow me, we stand in front of the wall of photos and I point at one of me holding Billie when she was a newborn. "From the second mom put you in my arms I knew that all I would do is protect you. Then just before she died-" I swallow hard before continuing "She told me if I don't do anything else she wanted me to protect you and I didn't and for that I'm so sorry but just let me help you no matter how big or small it is we'll fix it. Together" I put my hand on her cheek.

She doesn't say anything at first and we just spend a few minutes looking up at all of the photos, they tell a million stories.

"Allison definitely looks like you and you look like mom" she smiles pointing at photo of three year old me sat on my mom's knee.

"Look Allison that's your grand momma. Now you didn't get to meet her but she would have loved you and spoilt you rotten" I place my hand on Allison's tiny shoulder "And this is your Auntie Allison, now you would have definitely liked her, she would have been the one to help you play hooky and she would have taken you to do all the things I wouldn't let you do" I point at picture of Allison and I on my 21st birthday we looked so young but so happy and so unaware that it would all come crashing down.

"I'm sorry" she hands Allison back to me and begins to walk away.

"Billie, you were born in Florida, you live in Florida, you went to pre-school, kindergarten, elementary school, middle school and high school in Florida, you went to college and medical school in Florida, you did your residency in Florida. All you've ever known is here in Florida, you're suffocating you need to get out, I can help you get out, you can come and work with me in Seattle."

"No. I'm not you, I don't just walk away when the going gets tough and I'm not going to do that. Now just go, go back to Seattle and live your life and let me live mine." She disappears upstairs dodging our grandmother who was sat at the top of the stairs listening to every word.

She comes down and hands me the bunny and embraces me.

"Call me when you get home so I know you're safe" she kisses my cheek and walks us towards the door "Thank you for coming, it was lovely to see you both" she kisses Allison's head and we leave.

The journey home is long and tedious and I can't stop thinking about Billie, I just wish she wasn't so stubborn. We land in Seattle and my heart rate suddenly normalises, I need to put this trip as far behind as possible.

**AN- I promise you this is not the end there is another chapter maybe even two, it depends on how it goes. Thank you so much for all your lovely reviews it's an amazing feeling to know that at least one person is reading. So thank you xxx**


	5. Hey There Delilah

Amelia and I drive back to my place as Link is waiting there for her and Amelia wants to see Leo. Arriving at my front door is a welcome sight after a five and a half hour flight with a teething baby, don't get me wrong I love Allison but I can't wait for Owen to do bedtime tonight, I've come to the conclusion that mommy needs a night off.

When I open the door I can instantly feel the warmth and love coming from inside, Amelia and I pull all of the bags and the stroller into the doorway and head into the living room where Owen, Link and Leo are waiting.

"Hey" Owen embraces me "How was it?" he asks letting go.

"Eventful, but its over now" I breathe a sigh of relief and take a seat on the couch.

"We've just ordered pizza" Owen smiles taking Allison in his arms and kisses her little head.

I walk into the kitchen, ruffling Leo's gorgeous, curly brown hair as I walk past. I get a drink stand in the kitchen for a minute, though I'm glad to be home something just overcame me. I never thought I'd feel this way about someone I've not seen for twenty years, but the truth is I think always felt this way because she's my sister.

"You okay?" Amelia asks coming in grabbing Leo's bottle from the kitchen side

"I just miss her that's all"

"If I've learnt anything from having three sisters, she'll call when she's ready"

She reaches over and puts her hand on my shoulder and leads me back into the living room. We spend the night chatting away before Amelia and link head off and we put the kids down to bed. Owen keeps trying to talk to me about about what went on in Florida but I just can't bring myself to tell him about everything about Billie and my grandmother, I don't even think he knows I have a sister.

"You don't need to tell me what happened but I just want to know you're okay" Owen asks as I climb into bed and turn over.

"I'm fine, nothing happened" I smile, turning over and switching off my lamp.

"Well if you're sure"

"I am"

I roll over and drift off to sleep, I feel so bad for not telling him but I know that if I tell him he'll try and fix it and I don't want him to, I tried to fix it and it did't work so now I just to forget I went to Florida and get on with my life here in Seattle with Owen and Leo and Allison.

I have the day off today and decide to spend it at home playing with the kids, we get all of the toys out and sit on the floor.

"Look Leo, do you want the train?" I hand him the plastic train which he pushes along the floor making 'choo choo' noises as Allison and I sit and laugh at him.

Though playing with the kids is fun, my mind is still in Florida, in that house with Billie. She's all I can think about.

"Hey, you guys have a good day" Owen calls as he walks through the door "Have you been out?" he asks walking in and picking both of the kids up, one in each hand something I'm yet to master.

"No we had a homey day just stayed here played with all the toys and made a big mess" I laugh getting up off of the floor.

"Sounds like the best day" he leans over and kisses me, still holding both kids. Multi-tasking at it's finest.

We have a really nice family night eating dinner and playing with the kids, it's just what I need after the last few days I've had, we bring Allison and Leo down onto the couch with loads of blankets and a stack of books and snuggle up. Whilst we're reading one of my favourite books, 'where the wild things are' the door knocks and I stand up to go answer it.

"Can I come?" Little Leo asks looking up at me with his big brown eyes.

"Cause you can" I take his little hand and help him off of the couch, I remember the days when going to answer the door with my mom was an adventure.

I pull the door back and standing there was Billie. I blink twice to make sure it's actually her, she's stood there in front of a big black SUV rental car, her short blond hair is tied back into a tiny ponytail at the back of her head and she's wearing a long floral dress and big black boots and no makeup which is so unlike her.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry for being horrible and rude and upsetting you and I'm sorry for giving you zero explanation for my behaviour." she stands there and just speaks from her head and her heart which was clearly hard for her to do.

"Leo, sweetie do you wanna go in and sit with daddy whilst I speak with Billie" I crouch on to his level.

"Yeah" he trots back into the living room to Owen.

"I started going out with this guy, in my final year of med school, his name was Sam and he was nice and lovely and he was my first boyfriend since high school. Then I realised he was the chief of cardio and a lot older than he first seemed but I really liked him so we made it work. But then he started to become controlling and abusive and emotionally damaging and so I broke it off. Then he began to spread horrible rumours about me at work so I left and couldn't face going back to another hospital, not in Florida anyway so I got a job in that bar." She bows her head seeming embarrassed.

"Oh Billie" I wrap her in my arms "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because you would have wanted me to come here with you and I did I really wanted to. When I was looking at other residency programs working under you came up twice actually. But I didn't want to leave Florida." She cries, wiping her eyes with her hands.

"Grandma wouldn't have minded, she has lots of friends taking care of her"

"It wasn't just grandma though. Sam and I were together for a few months and I fell pregnant, with our little girl, she's five and when she was born Sam, promised to make a change but he didn't. When I got out he sued me for custody and he got it and he took her and left me with no job and no baby." She sobs.

I don't know what to say to her so I just take a tissue from the box on top of the shoe cabinet in the hallway and hand it to her.

"After you left I went to visit him, Sam and he told me that he couldn't cope looking after her anymore so he gave her to his mom. And it broke my heart how he could just give her away to his mom and didn't even tell me he took my child and gave her away. So I went to see her, his mom, I'd never met her before and she was really nice but she was almost as old as our grandma and she couldn't look after a 5 year old" she walks away towards the car still talking to me and I follow her, wrapping my body in my arms as I'm freezing and I kinda sense where this is going. She opens the car door and carries a beautiful little girl out. "Teddy, this is Delilah, your niece" She puts the little girl down and shuts the car door. "And Delilah this is your Auntie Teddy" She smiles.

"So you kidnapped your daughter?" I try not shout as I don't want to frighten little Delilah.

"No, she's my little girl and took her his mom and couldn't look after her. I didn't fight at first but I am now and I'm not going to leave her with him."

"Yes but he still has custody" I scold under my breath to which she rolls her eyes but then I look at her in the eyes and realise she is just like me, a mommy trying to do what's best for her baby. "Need somewhere to stay?" I ask smiling at her like it was some kind of secret plan.

She smiles back in the same way and the next thing I know we're pulling suitcases out of the back of the car and I'm leading them into my house. I swear only my sister would show up out of the blue with her abusive ex-boyfriends five year old daughter and all of her personal belongings in the back of a rental car but I owe so I'm going to turn the away.

We put her bags in the hall and I lead them into our living room, taking Delilah's little hand in mine and walking her in. She must be terrified, a new house a strange lady holding her hand and bringing her into her home. I hold my breath as I walk in to an oblivious Owen.

"So Delilah shall we see if we have some cookies?" I ask the seemingly shy little girl.

She nods her head, her little brown ringlets bouncing as she does so.

"Owen, Can you join me in the kitchen?" I say through the door "Okay why don't you two go in there and I'll bring the cookies through in a minute" I usher Billie and Delilah past Owen and bring him through to the kitchen.

"Okay, care to explain?" he asks sounding confused.

"She's my sister, Billie. I saw her for the first time in twenty years when I went back to Florida, she's going through some problems at the moment and I said she could stay with us for a little while, I'll see if I can get her a job at the hospital, she's a third year resident and get them back on their feet." I tell him whilst getting cookies from the cupboard "It's okay that they stay, isn't it?" I put my hands on his face.

"Of cause it is, family of your's is family of mine" he smiles my lips "you're freezing" laughs.

As the night goes on we put the children to bed, Billie and Delilah sleep in the living room. Billie on the couch and Delilah on an old air bed. I kiss them both good night and go upstairs and I feel happy to have my little sister sleeping under the same roof as me for the first time in twenty years. I think it's safe to say I'll be sleeping with a smile on my face for the first time in while.

I wake early and head down, I can hear the TV through the closed living room door, I go straight through to the kitchen and make three cups of coffee, I take one up to Owen and go back for the other two. But then I see something strange, the front door key on the floor by the back door, I pick it up and just presume it's been knocked off. I knock on the living room door and walk in, there's three white envelopes on the coffee table and little Delilah is sat on the couch so naively unaware but Billie is nowhere to be seen.

I pick up the envelopes they read: 'for Teddy', 'for Teddy 2' and 'for my beautiful girl Delilah'. I open mine first and sit down next to Delilah as I read it.

_Dear Teddy,_

_I'm sorry I had to leave like this but I didn't know what else to do. I couldn't leave my baby girl with her abusive dad or with her grandmother who couldn't take care of her properly but I couldn't take her with me. I saw what an amazing mom you are to your children and I knew you could look after her and keep her safe._

_I wish I could stay but when I come back you'll understand why I couldn't, you're the best big sister I could ask for and wish we could've had more time together, I hope you forgive me for leaving because I forgave you._

_In the other envelope there's some money around $800, I'm sorry that's all I could afford and there's a letter for Delilah to read when she's older so she understands why I had to go._

_Teddy, please take good care of my baby and tell her how much I love her every single day. Please don't let her forget about me._

_All my love_

_Billie xxx_

Oh Billie. Oh I wish I could have kept you here forever.

**AN- Hi, I did already publish this but when I re-read it there were too many mistakes so here it is, again. This took a different turn, one even I wasn't expecting so I hope you enjoy. Xxx**


	6. Some Might Say

I put my head in my hands and let out a loud, clearly audible sigh, for the first time in a long time I don't know what to do. I don't want to tell grandma because she will only worry, I can't ask Delilah if she knows anything because it will only scare her and I can't report Billie as a missing person because she's 27 and she's not a child if she wants to leave she can and she has.

I take the letters and head upstairs, leaving Delilah sat watching TV blissfully unaware of what's going on. When I reach the top of the stairs I can hear Owen banging about in the bedroom, he's probably trying to make the bed. He's chatting away about football to Leo and Allison, who most likely don't care, my heart sinks at the thought of having to go into that room and tell him that my estranged sister who he met for ten minutes has just abandoned her potentially kidnapped five year old daughter with us.

"She's gone" I say bluntly walking through the room.

"Uh" he looks up confused

"Billie she left last night and she's left Delilah with us" I try not make eye contact so I fold laundry instead.

"I don't understand. I thought she wanted help, she wanted a job and a new life here with you and Delilah" he still looks very confused.

"Well so did I but she clearly wasn't coping, I can't begin to imagine what she was going through and she was going through it all on her own" tears begin to prick my eyes "and she was going through it on her own because I left her, I left my baby sister to get on with my own life"

I can't help but feel full of guilt, this is my little sister and she couldn't talk to me about what she was going through.

"What are we going to do?" Owen asks looking fed up as if this isn't the first time Billie has shown up with all her problems

"Well what else can we do?, we keep Delilah and we raise her and look after her and treat her like our own until Billie is ready to come back" I pick Allison up and put her on my hip hoping that Owen can sense that this conversation is almost over

"We have two young children what makes you think we can take care of another one?" he still looks very confused

"truthfully I don't know but she's my niece and she needs us to take care of her and Billie needs us to take care of her whilst she gets better. I couldn't help Billie before but I can help her now and I am going to help her"

I help Leo off of the bed and we head downstairs before Owen can even think about telling me this is not a good idea.

I lead Leo through to the living room and he immediately notices Delilah sat on the couch and he looks up at me and smiles. I don't know what that's supposed to mean but I'm guessing he likes Delilah, he walks over to his toy bin and takes two cars out before wandering over to the couch he hands one to her and he starts to make car noises. And before I know it I'm witnessing the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

**10 Years Later **

I'm stood in the kitchen staring at a photo on the side, it's Leo, Delilah and Allison sat on the couch smiling at me. The photo was taken the day after Delilah came into our life's and god knows that we wasn't ready for what beautiful chaos and joy she would bring into our home. However, Owen could never see past the fact that Billie had left her with us and despite all our efforts to make it work that was always the elephant in the room.

After eight years of trying to make it work after Billie, Owen and I separated leaving me with our five children, after the separation Owen moved to LA to be closer to Megan, so he sees the kids during school breaks. So all five of them live with me full time including Leo as he wanted to stay near Amelia and his friends. After Billie left Owen and I had two more children, Noah, who's seven and Ivy, who's four. All of the children are amazing even if they drive me crazy some days.

As the morning goes on I get the kids ready for school, Ivy goes to the daycare at the hospital, Noah and Allison get the school bus and Leo and Delilah walk to school probably being really nice to each other which the complete opposite to how they behave at home.

"Okay I'm going" I shout up the stairs to Delilah and Leo

"Bye, Teddy"

"I'm going to be late home. Bye Aunt Teddy" They shout back one after another.

"Come on Teddy" Ivy pulls me towards the door smiling knowing full well that she doesn't call me by my name.

"That's mommy to you" I laugh

Even though each of the kids have their own little personalities, Ivy is literally a small version of Allison with a hint of Delilah's teenage attitude which is both scary and very cute. Noah and Leo couldn't be more different if they tried, Leo is loud and obsessed with football whereas, Noah is shy, quiet and loves science and reading. Delilah on the other hand is just like Billie she's fiercely independent and amazingly confident but she's kind and funny and just like the cousins she now calls siblings she knows exactly how to cheer me up after a bad day.

We arrive at the hospital, I kiss Ivy goodbye and head down to the ER it's not busy just the general hustle and bustle, I take it upon myself to sit at the trauma reception and finish charts. Occasionally I see a patient but the residents, seem to have it under control.

"Can somebody help me, please?" A young man not much older, if not the same age as Delilah is stood by the door with a small girl laying in his arms.

Before I can get up and rush over to them a resident I've never seen before ushers him into a trauma room and I follow them. The girl can't be much more than a year old, she has curly brown hair and she's floppy, she looks like she's shaking but not seizing.

"Okay, what can you tell me, sweetie" the resident looks over at the young man, who just looks terrified, he's holding the little girls hand.

"Er-er we were playing princesses and she told me she didn't feel well, I told her to sit down and before she could she just went all floppy and and fell back. I-I tried to catch her but she fell back and hit her head on the fireplace" he answers

"Right, that's good thank you. What's her name, how old is she and does she have any allergies?" she asks as I put a line in and resist the erge to take over, she seems to know what she's dong.

"Her names Amaya, she's two, I-I don't know about the allergies. She's my baby sister I don't know" his voice begins to break

"What's your name?" I ask him

"Joey"

"Okay, Joey will you go and wait outside, we'll take care of Amaya, I will come and update when we've done our tests" I tell him and he kisses her head and walks out.

"I think it might be type 1 diabetes I think she's in hypoglycemia"

We give her glucose and her vitals come back up and we begin to stitch her head up, I sit and hold Amaya's hand, whilst the resident stitches her up.

"Good job, quick thinking" I smile at her

"Thank you, sorry I'm your new resident, third year. Eden Murphy" She smiles.

Eden Murphy, the young girl I treated all those years ago when I went back to Florida. I feel tears prick in my eyes, I feel happy that I'm sat here having been part of saving yet another person alongside a young woman I helped save. But I wasn't able to save Billie, she still had to go.

"I'm going to go out to update Joey, just shout me if you need anything" I stand up and leave the room.

"Joey, Amaya's going to be just fine" I sit next to him outside the trauma room. "But you need to call your parents"

"Yeah my stepmom is on her way" he smiles weakly as I stand up to walk away

I sit back at the reception desk when Eden comes at sits next to me, she looks so much different to what I can remember, she's swapped her short, brown hair for long, blonde hair and she's no longer pale as her medical conditions caused her to have a skin discolouration.

"I'm sorry if I shocked you" she smiles turning next towards me.

"No, don't apologise I just didn't expect to see you that's all but I'm so glad you're here" I reply

"I heard you ran the trauma unit here and I knew I wanted to work for you so I transferred"

We sit and chat for a short while about how much we've both changed since the last time we saw each other, how she learn't under my old resident, who's now a head of trauma, at Columbia. Then a young woman, with long, dark brown hair, a nose ring and tattoos up one arm walks through the door.

"Joey" she shouts as she runs towards him.

Eden and I walk towards them, she looks up at us and smiles.

"Joey is this your stepmom?" I ask.

"This is my-"

"HI Teddy" She interrupts.

Billie.

**Hi it's been a while. My WIFI cut off for a whole week, so I'm really sorry. But I hope you enjoy I know it's not the best but there will be one last chapter soon and I have a couple of ideas for a new fic that'll hopefully start soon.**


	7. Mothers and Their Daughters

"You know each other?" Joey asks

I don't even know what to say, I feel a little bit betrayed that she's been here long enough to take care of somebody else's children but hasn't found the time to say two words to her own child. Delilah doesn't talk about Billie much, I don't know if it's because she doesn't remember much of her or because she doesn't want to.

"Yeah we were old friends" she replies scanning the room. "Is everything okay with Amaya?" she looks at me like we don't even know each other.

"Are you her mother?" I swallow hard

"No, she's my Aunt Kara" Joey answers for her.

Aunt Kara. Well that stung. She left and recreated her life elsewhere.

"Well I can't discuss Amaya's medical condition with you until her parents are here" If she's going to pretend she doesn't know me well I'm going to do the same.

Joey and Billie, or Kara as she's now been called, sit down outside the room as Eden and I walk away. What am I going to tell Delilah, I can't lie to her. She's going to be devestated. I know she doesn't mention or ask questions about Billie but she has her photo by her night stand and keeps her letter in her draw but I don't think she ever opened it. I just don't think I can tell her that all the Christmases, birthdays and school shows and even our grandma's funeral Billie missed she was actually spending it with another family. I really wouldn't be suprised if she had a whole new set of children as well.

When I leave the hospital Billie and Joey are still waiting for Joey and Amaya's parents to arrive, I don't even say goodbye. I pick Ivy up from daycare and head home where the sitter is watching the kids.

"Did you have a nice day mommy?" Ivy asks as we walk to my car.

"Yes I did thank you, did you?" I lie, as she holds my hand tightly, hanging on my every word.

"Yeah, I painted and played dollies all day" she smiles looking up at me with big blue eyes as her long blonde curls bounce off of her shoulders.

We drive home listening to the Frozen soundtrack for what feels like the hundredth time as Ivy sings along from the back seat. When we arrive home the sitter leaves and I begin to make dinner. I stand in the doorway of the kitchen and look into the living room where Noah and Leo are playing some car game on the playstation, Allison is sat at the coffee table doing her math homework and Delilah is sat next to her helping whilst putting braids in Ivy's hair. I just stand and smile for a moment, taking in how perfectly imperfect my family is.

After dinner I put the kids to bed and come back down to Delilah and Leo arguing about who's the better driver.

"Leo can I have a moment with Delilah, please?" I ask prompting him to leave the room.

"What's up?" she smiles with anticipation.

"I saw your mom today?" I blurt out leaving Delilah looking slightly astonished

"Oh" she swallows hard

"She came to the hospital with a friend" I tell her

"Is she still there?"

" I don't know, she was when I left, I'm sorry Delilah" I reach out and take her hand

"It's not your fault, I don't think I want to see her though" she mumbles

"Ok"

"But she didn't even mention me did she?"

I don't know how to answer her question so I just look at her with apologetic eyes and we sit for a moment, her arms are wrapped tightly around me. I can see tears pricking in her eyes, it must be so confusing for her.

The next morning Delilah stays in her room getting ready and I don't see her but I don't want to pressure her into talking to me about it, she just needs a minute to get her head around it.

As expected when I arrive at the hospital Billie and Joey are no longer in the ER, so I choose to put them to the back of my mind and get on with my job. I stood by her when Owen didn't want to take care of Delilah, when Owen didn't understand what Billie was going through but now when I think about it I don't think I truly knew her and I don't believe I ever will. Instead I'm just going to focus on my family and on the daughter she left.

Around midday I have to take a young boy up to paeds when I see them standing there, Billie, Joey and a tall man I don't recognise. I walk past her and go into a side room with Eden and my patient.

"Teddy!" her voice echos down the corridor "Amaya's going home tonight" she chirps chasing after me.

"That's good" I reply still walking away from her

"How have you been?"

Wow she just thinks she can just swan back into my life with a new name and make small talk. I'm not one for being childish but I'm not dealing with this now.

"So you're just going to ignore me" she says, stopping in her tracks behind me as I continue to walk

I turn around and look at her, she's not the Billie I left in my living room that night. She still has a small frame and her hair is now a dark brown and she has tattoos up her arms, one on her right arm is a tree there are two names that stand out to me, Teddy and Delilah, mom, dad and grandma's names are also on there too. She has big aviator sunglasses on her forehead and she's wearing a tight leather jacket and skinny black jeans like she's something out of NCIS.

"What like you ignored us" I spat, realising that it might have been a little harsh.

"I thought you of all people would understand why I had to leave, I wasn't in a good place" she sighs

"Well are you out of that place now?"

"I wanted to come back and see you but it meant having to go back to that place, I knew that Delilah was okay because I know that you are a good mom." She smiles

I walk away and turn around the corner to see Delilah standing there listening to every word. She's leaning against the wall, she looks confused and angry and she's biting her nails, which she only does when she's stressed.

"Delilah?" Oh god, Billie followed me.

Delilah looks up and rolls her eyes, one thing she does that she definitely gets from Billie is she takes no shit from anyone.

"Not today" she throws her hands up in despair "can I go sit in your car?" she asks knowing full well that I'm not going home yet it's only 12:30pm.

"Go sit in the attendings lounge on three" I brush her long brown hair, which is in two braids going down her back, with my hand.

She leaves, almost strutting off, not even looking back at her mom. Sometimes I do wish I could have the confidence that Delilah has.

"What did you do come back for, Billie?" I ask in frustration

"I don't know" she answers

"You clearly have a new set up" I snark

"I promise you Joey wasn't lying. He calls me Auntie Kara, I had to change my name, I'm a friend of his moms. She took me in when I needed somewhere to stay, I finished my residency but decided that I didn't want to be a doctor anymore and I work as a youth support worker instead." She looks so proud of herself and honestly I'm proud of her for not giving up and for making something of herself when she probably just wanted to curl up in a ball but I'm still mad with her for leaving.

"I'm glad you sorted yourself out but at the end of the day it's not me you need to be apologising to, it's your daughter"

I turn away and head to the attendings lounge on three to speak to Delilah. When I get there she's acting like she never saw her mom, like its no big deal.

"Hey, you okay?" I sit next to her on the couch

"I'm fine, I knew I'd see her if I came but she looks so different and she goes by a different name and I passed her three times in the halls and she didn't acknowledge me once" she doesn't look upset, like she's going to cry but she looks really angry.

"She wants to see you to apologise"

"No I'm not speaking to her"

I respect Delilah's wishes and tell Billie that she doesn't want to see her. I don't blame her really I'm not sure I'd want to see someone that had just left me with a stranger and restarted her life, I just hope this doesn't throw Delilah off course because she's doing so well at the moment, at school and at work. I just hope that this doesn't change her.

After dinner, I decide to go into Delilah's room, the letter that Billie left her ten years ago is sat, unopened on her nightstand. I pick it up and take it downstairs to her, I feel like she should read it first before she makes any decisions about not seeing her mom.

"I think you should read this" I place the letter on her lap

"I don't want to" she hands it back to me "I don't want to read it or see her, I don't want to admit to myself that she left me" She looks upset now

"Why don't I read it to you?"

She nods her head.

"To my beautiful baby girl, Delilah

I'm going to miss you so much, I'm so so sorry I have to go but when you're old enough to understand I'll tell you why. This won't be forever, I'll come back one day but for now I'll leave you in the very capable hands of your aunt Teddy.

I love you so much.

Your mommy xxx"

I swallow hard before wrapping her up in my arms, she rests her head on my shoulder.

"I'll see her" she sighs "tomorrow"

At Delilah's request Billie will meet her at home whilst I'm at work. I can't help but think about her every second I'm at work but I know that she will call me if she needs anything. When I arrive home after work the sitters car isn't in the drive but I can hear ripples of laughter coming from the kitchen.

"Mommy" Two little voices shout as I enter the house.

Ivy and Allison come charging toward me laughing and giggling, I hug them back stroking their long blonde hair.

"Can I speak with you please?" I ask Billie gesturing towards the living room.

"Is everything okay?" She asks as we sit down on the couch

"It's funny because I was going to ask you the same thing" I smile

"I'm fine, I loved seeing Delilah today. You've done so well with all of them." She looks regretful like she missed out, which she has.

"Thank you" I hold her hand

"You know when I was younger I got a job babysitting, I loved it and I knew then when I got older I wanted to be a mom. But just then when I was sat in your kitchen with your house full of kids and I realised that you're living the life I always wanted. But I know that I've not been the best mom or the best sister or the best granddaughter but I'm ready to change, I think Delilah should come and stay with me." She suggests grinning from ear to ear like the Cheshire Cat.

"You really think that's a good idea?" I let go off of her hand and try to hide the disappointment in my face

"Well she is my daughter and I've spoken with Delilah and she'd like to give it a go"

I swallow hard and try not to let myself get upset, I knew deep down that this day would come that Delilah will go home with Billie.

Billie left that evening with a promise to return a in few days ready to take Delilah back to LA with her. I try to stay positive over the three days but that's hard when you have three days to prepare yourself and your four other children for someone that you have become so close to, that's become a part of your life, someone that you love like your own child. Delilah's obviously putting on a brave face despite multiple conversations containing words like 'you don't have to go if you don't want to' or 'why don't you just give it a few more days to think about it'. But she assures me that this is her decision and she wants to give it a try.

Then all the conversations and the preparation becomes a reality, I send them all to school as Billie isn't coming till the evening. My day is spent packing Delilah's things into a bag, I remember that morning when Billie left and Delilah was sat on my couch so innocent and unaware. I didn't know then what an amazing addition to our lives she has become.

"Mommy, why does Lilah have go?" Ivy asks as we drive home.

"She has to go live with her mom" I answer

"I thought you were her mom" Noah says sitting in the back of the car next to Ivy

"No, I'm her aunt I was just looking after her for a bit"

"It's sad that she has to go" Noah sighs

"But she'll always be my sister" Ivy smiles

They do make me so proud.

Billie is due at 9pm so we have a final dinner together and I put Ivy and Noah to bed, allowing Leo and Allison to stay up to say goodbye. We wait in an awkward silence for Billie to arrive, Delilah looks nervous and uneasy. But then it reaches 10pm and I send Leo and Allison to bed aware that Billie probably isn't going to show up.

"I'm so sorry Delilah" I put my arm around her.

It's now almost eleven and their flight was supposed be eleven-thirty, I think Delilah knows that Billie isn't going to show up but she's choosing not to believe it.

"No. You don't need to apologise for her, it's not your fault. It's mine for thinking she would come" She then flops into my arms and lets out what can only be described as an uncontrollable sob.

"It's all going to be ok" I kiss her forehead as her big hot tears drip onto my hands, like rain.

We sit for a moment, all I can hear are Delilah's heartbreaking sobs until tiny footsteps begin to come down the stairs. They head over to the couch and without a word all four bodies manage to squeeze on.

"I'm sorry your Mommy didn't come" Allison starts, reaching over to coffee table and passing over a tissue.

"Me too" Leo continues

"So am I" Noah looks over to Delilah

"I'm kind of sorry but I didn't want you to leave" Ivy laughs making Delilah smile.

"I've spent my whole life wondering if she'll ever come back but really I didn't need to because my real mom and my real family are all sat her" she smiles scanning the room as she says it.

* * *

**Some Time Later **

Delilah never saw her mom again instead she focused on the people she had, she went on to become a police detective and is happy.

Allison grew to love science and became head of cardio like her mom and she is happy.

Leo went to college on a football scholarship and made that his career and he is happy.

Noah continued with his love for science and is now at college studying the stars with hopes to be an astronaut and he is happy.

Ivy hated school but she is now studying to be a chef in a top restaurant in New York City and she is happy.

And as for me, I got back with Owen not long after and we are happy.

* * *

_**AN- Well that's a wrap. I genuinely don't know how to feel about the final chapter, I have to admit it wasn't my original ending but after much deliberation I decided I like the way this has ended. I have to thank everyone who has made it this far, your lovely reviews mean the world to me. I plan on writing another fic so please give me some ideas.**_

_**Thank you xxx **_


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